Slick Shades
by Sarah Gail
Summary: It was pretty amazing to Kakashi how one little thing could change a person entirely, though Naruto was quite desirable no matter what he wore. [KakaNaru]


**Something I wrote a while ago. Looking back on it, it gets a little "bleh" in the middle, but I still like it. I hope you do, too.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.**

Kakashi had never really had a thing for those of the male gender, especially when they were significantly younger than himself. Especially if they were his students. Especially if they were loud or obnoxious or simply so bothersome that he was made to question why he had become a teacher in the first place.

Seriously, though. He hated kids, and teenagers weren't much better.

However, he often found himself staring at one particular student in his class, which happened to be the last class of the day, more often than he knew was considered acceptable. This student was everything that Kakashi generally found unattractive. Aside from being his student, he was a male, and a loud one, at that. The boy practically yelled everything he said as if he had never been taught the "use your inside voice" rule. So bothersome was this boy, at least sometimes, that it made Kakashi feel as if he should have become a writer like his friend suggested. "No, teaching is something I can really dig into," he had said to his friend. "Something I can do to give back to the community." That moment of heroism has lead him to loose about 70% of his sanity and has implanted a deep but well hidden hatred for anyone under the age of twenty-five.

Those things aside, this loud, male student was also much younger than him at the still-budding age of sixteen.

Kakashi grimaced at the mere thought of that horrid number. He was old enough to be the boy's father, after all. He himself was thirty-three. He wasn't sure why he was compelled to stare at this boy so much, or why he felt his heart flutter when the other would occasionally feel the man staring at him and look up, causing Kakashi to tilt his head down with slightly widened eyes. The silver-haired man has often blamed it on the fact that he was still single and painfully lonely. Sure, he smiled and helped students and talked to his co-workers and put on the whole "I am a hard-working, happy teacher who enjoys his job" show, but as soon as he shut his car door in the afternoon, the very air around him went stale. The man was still fairly young, but he felt like he was being shoved face-first into an early mid-life crisis.

Then again, teaching probably did that to a lot of people. At least he liked to think that. He didn't want to feel alone, or feel like some bitter old man who hated kids.

This student, though, was different. Uzumaki Naruto showed the traits of a typical teenager. He was loud and had a hard time following the rules and as soon as the last bell of the day rang, he didn't give a flying fart about school, resulting in homework being either turned in late or not turned in at all. The blond boy was no Albert Einstein, but he was still very smart and showed plenty of potential. What attracted Kakashi the most, however, was that Naruto had a certain wisdom about him. Something inside of those childish blue eyes made him appear older than he was. Naruto may not have been able to use fancy words or sit still long enough to read a book, but he was more than capable of providing a stimulating conversation. He could debate just as good as any aging politician and, when the boy really tried, he could write a story or essay that could knock an esteemed college professor off their feet.

Because of this, Kakashi had associated his attraction towards the boy with simple respect. Kakashi was more than willing to look past the loud and brash exterior and see that Naruto was just as intelligent as himself. Sure, his homework grades looked like crap, but Naruto had been on honor roll for four straight years, had perfect attendance, and could finish a test in five minutes flat - and pass.

Naruto, unlike most of his students, cared. He put forth effort and brought something to the table. Because of this, Kakashi had said to himself that what he was feeling was adoration and respect that a teacher would feel for a good student.

However, things were complicated further by a simple pair of glasses.

"Check out those slick shades," said Kiba, chuckling lightly as he reached up to flick the frames on the blond's face. Naruto groaned, blue eyes squinting behind the lenses. He reached a hand up and swatted Kiba's own away.

"Shut up, 'ne. It ain't funny."

"Why are you wearing glasses? You never needed 'em before."

"I went to go get a check-up the other day," Naruto explained, that same hand moving to adjust the frames slightly. "The doctor said I got astigmatism or somethin'. He said if I didn't start wearing glasses, it'd get worse and worse."

Kiba made a rather stoic face, his own eyes squinting some before Naruto sighed and explained to him what astigmatism is. Once the blond was finished with said explanation, Kiba "Oooh'd" and nodded his head. "I see," the brunette said lightly. He leaned forward and grinned, placing his cheek in his hand. "Well, you got good grades and now you got the look to match it." Naruto pouted.

"Not everyone who wears glasses is smart, you know."

"Are you saying that you're stupid?"

There was a brief silence, and soon a lightly tanned hand was lifted and sent flying into the back of Kiba's head. The darker-haired teen yowled and reached both hands up to cover the inflicted area protectively. Before he could ask Naruto why he had just been bitch-smacked, Kakashi had entered the classroom and practically slammed the door shut.

"Take your seats."

Everyone quietly scrambled to their appointed desks, Naruto shifting towards the front of the room and plopping into his chair. The older male had been late, as per the norm, but he had clearly been having a bad day. Naruto knew why, though. He usually always did. The blond had passed this class in the hall during other periods and had heard the sound of disarrayed teenagers yelling and laughing and ignoring Kakashi's loud commands until the man would finally snap and scream and tell them all to "shut the hell up." Naruto would wince at the harsh tone. Sure, he would whisper and talk to people in class, but he knew when a teacher's tolerance for bullshit was wearing thin. He may have annoyed Kakashi here and there, but he was fortunate enough to have never experienced that side of the man.

Kakashi practically threw his things onto his desk and snatched up a textbook. He flipped to the marked page and glanced over it, then mumbled. "Sorry," he said, causing most of the students, Naruto included, to smile in a forgiving manner. The man had to admit to himself that, out of all of his classes, this was his best. Though part of him suspected that was because a certain blond-haired boy was in it. As if on cue, Kakashi looked up from his book to Naruto. And blinked.

"Glasses," the man had said dumbly. A few people snickered. Naruto gave a slow blink, then grinned and adjusted those frames once again.

"Y-yeah," the blond confirmed. Kakashi gave another blink, then looked back to the textbook and turned to face the board. He picked up a red marker and began to write down quick notes from their last lesson. The students all pulled out their notebooks and flipped to the notes they had taken last, a daily routine for the teenagers. Kakashi had made it clear that notes were going to be a big part of his class, and that group review was important. However, instead of beginning that review, the man had merely clicked the cap of the marker back on, set it aside, and plopped into his chair. A few people gave each other confused glances, and one girl spoke up.

"Are we going to review...?"

Kakashi placed the book onto his desk and leaned back. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked up with an almost thoughtful expression. The man turned his chair to the right, then to the left, and repeated this motion slowly for a brief moment before he spoke. "What chapter are we on?"

"Thirty," the same girl replied.

"We're almost done with the book," Kakashi affirmed. A few students nodded, and he tilted his head, then turned his chair to face Naruto. The boy seemed to stiffen, his posture straightening. Kakashi merely smiled. "Glasses. Take up everyone's notebooks."

Naruto seemed to dislike the new apparent nickname, but stood and did as he was told. People looked confused and some of them looked horrified, Kiba being one of them. Kakashi heaved a mental sigh, knowing all-too well what that meant. The poor saps didn't take notes, he thought. He was about to begin his only form of stress relief by looking at every horrified student in class and childishly cuss them out within the safety of his thoughts when Naruto dropped the stack of notebooks in front of him. The man blinked and leaned forward. Naruto almost turned to walk back to his desk, but Kakashi stopped him.

"Wait."

Naruto stumbled mid-turn and faced his teacher again. The blond, along with several others in the class, watched Kakashi flip through the first notebook, which happened to be Naruto's. Messy handwriting, but legible. Page upon page was filled with every note Kakashi had ever written on that board and then some. There was the occasional doodle here and there, but the man actually found that they pertained to the notes themselves. Again, Kakashi felt his heart flutter, which only made him feel stupid. Naruto had listened to every damn word Kakashi had said, and the man wasn't sure why his body's response to this was to send blood rushing to his cheeks and ears. He glanced up to Naruto, who luckily wasn't even looking at him. The boy merely lifted a hand to push his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, head turned so he could look out of the window.

It was then that Kakashi noticed something. Those glasses, the frames thick and black, seemed to bring what Kakashi loved most about the boy to the surface. Naruto looked more mature with them on, and they seemed to magnify the fact that, yes, Naruto was intelligent. Any stranger wouldn't have been able to tell that from looking at the blond and especially upon hearing him speak at first. However, those glasses made him look like the "go-to guy." Kakashi wouldn't doubt it if other students suddenly started going to the boy for help with homework or studying.

This is dangerous territory, the man thought to himself. This wasn't some perverted lust or adoration for a student. This small change, a pair of glasses, had pushed Kakashi into a moment of clarity. Naruto was the best of both worlds. Happy and free-spirited and, to put it lightly, gorgeous, as well as stimulating and intelligent and a hard worker. Naruto had a goal and was more than happy to bust his ass working for it, but he also knew how to have fun and set limits for himself. Kakashi didn't know how to do that. He worked until he was so tired that he was pissed and didn't even know what the hell he was working for. But when he saw how much Naruto cared about what he had to say and saw Naruto grow and respect him enough to be so in-depth with his notes, it reminded Kakashi why he had really wanted to teach. He gave the man solace, and it wasn't until now that Kakashi had realized how Naruto had become his favorite student.

In essence, Naruto gave Kakashi's dull and grim life purpose, and he reinvigorated him.

Kakashi lidded his eyes, staring at the boy's face for a bit longer until Naruto turned his head to look back to the man. Kakashi cleared his throat and closed the blond's notebook.

"I'll be grading your notes early," he stated calmly. A few students leaned back in their seats and a few others groaned quietly. Kakashi placed Naruto's notes back on the top of the stack and smiled almost innocently. "If you didn't take any notes, then... See you next year."

Naruto couldn't help but grin mischeviously and turn his head to look at Kiba, who seemed to be slowly dying on the inside. The poor mutt, he thought, then looked up as the final bell sounded off. The class stood and gathered their belongings, some of them grouping into pairs and chattering loudly as they made their way towards the exit. Naruto watched them for a moment, then waded through the stream of his remaining classmates to grab his bag. He rather messily stuffed his books into that bag, then zipped it up and slung it over his shoulders. He then turned and followed behind the others at the rear, only to be stopped by Kakashi.

The man closed the door, which rendered a rather confused expression on the blond's face. Kakashi only smiled, then crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're sixteen, right?"

Naruto's brow quirked, but he nodded with a small grin.

"Yup! I turn seventeen in October."

"Do you like men?"

The extremely personal question was put so bluntly and asked so quickly that it almost knocked Naruto into a deeper state of confusion. The boy shifted nervously on his feet, unsure of how to answer or what to make of his favorite teacher's odd actions. His hands gripped the straps of his backpack, and he looked down to the floor with furrowed brows. Kakashi laughed.

"I'm not going to lynch you or anything."

"I, uh," the blond boy stammered for a moment, then looked off to the side. "I don't really care about gender, 'ne."

"I know this is odd," Kakashi started, bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck. "And if you feel disgusted or at risk or anything like that, feel free to punch me in the gut and walk away."

A knot seemed to form in Naruto's gut, but to even his own surprise, it wasn't out of fear or disgust. Young, boyish nervousness, maybe. He had never been confessed to, and if Kakashi was really about to do that, he wasn't sure what he would do. Gender didn't matter, no, but he was sure that the age gap and teacher/student situation was a problem. However...

"We'd have to keep it a secret, yeah?"

Kakashi's eyes widened a bit before he smiled knowingly. Naruto was certainly sharper than people gave him credit for. The silver-haired man nodded, and Naruto lifted a hand to scratch at a whiskered cheek lightly. Then, much to Kakashi's joy, the boy blushed. When Naruto spoke once more, he crossed his arms over his chest and used a stern tone of voice.

"Fine," he said. "But we gotta go slow and if you start feelin' me up when I don't want it, I really will punch you in the gut, 'ttebayo."

Kakashi's eyes widened, and he laughed softly at the boy's set rules and conditions. He nodded, though, smilingly brilliantly and moving his hand to the doorknob. "Alright, fair enough."

But before Kakashi could open the door, Naruto reached out and held it shut. Kakashi blinked curiously and watched as the blond adjusted his glasses nervously.

"Before I get outta here..." the boy started. "Why me?"

Kakashi smirked, knowing it would probably take forever to properly explain to the boy what he felt for him. Instead, he reached a hand out and flicked the boy's glasses lightly, much like Kiba had done earler before the man had arrived. Naruto flinched.

"I guess it's those slick shades."

Kakashi erupted into laughter when Naruto's eyes narrowed and his cheeks flared red. That laughter was cut short, however, when a tanned hand came up and smacked the man in the back of the head.


End file.
